AMDR
FULL MEMBER
- Joined
- Sep 28, 2014
- Messages
- 1,109
- Reaction score
- 16
- Country
- Location
Woman charged with trying to procure MQ-9, fighter engines for China
Alert 5 - Military Aviation News
U.S. citizen charged with conspiring to send $50 million drone and jet fighter engines to China - Sun Sentinel
A woman accused of trying to send an unmanned Hellfire missile-firing drone and jet fighter engines to China via South Florida, pleaded not guilty to federal charges of illegal military weapons brokering Friday in Fort Lauderdale.
Prosecutors say Wenxia Man, aka Wency, 44, was working with a man she called a "technology spy" who procures information from Russia and other nations "so that China can obtain sophisticated technology without having to conduct its own research."
The so-called "technology spy," Xinsheng Zhang, was indicted on related charges in South Florida but authorities said he is in China and has not yet been arrested.
Investigators said Zhang discussed paying $50 million to an undercover operative in Broward to illegally ship an MG-9 Reaper, an unmanned drone that is "capable of firing Hellfire missiles and is classified as a defense article," on the U.S. defense munitions list.
Zhang is an official agent for the procurement of war and defense items for the Chinese government, authorities said.
"The nature and circumstances of the offense, that is attempting to obtain and export weaponized unmanned aerial vehicles and engines for jet fighters to the People's Republic of China, presents a substantial risk to the national security of the United States," Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Walleisa wrote in court records.
Man, who was arrested last month in the San Diego area and recently transferred to South Florida, contacted people in Broward County she thought could help her but were actually undercover witnesses and Homeland Security agents, according to court records. Prosecutors said the conspiracy operated in Broward County and elsewhere between 2011 and 2013.
Man and Zhang also tried to obtain engines for the F-35 Strike Fighter and the F-22 Raptor Jet Fighter engines and other military and defense items, authorities said.
Man, who has been detained since her Sept. 1 arrest in California, will remain locked up in the Broward County Main Jail for now. She pleaded not guilty Friday to two federal charges, unlicensed brokering of defense articles and conspiracy to export defense articles without a license.
Speaking initially via a Mandarin interpreter and at other times in halting English, Man told U.S. Magistrate Judge Alicia Valle that she and her husband own AFM Microelectronics in San Diego, an unsuccessful, small factory that makes ceramic capacitors.
Sometimes, I say we're crazy to run this company," she told the judge, explaining that they do not make much money and have lost money on the venture some months.
The judge appointed the Federal Public Defender's Office to represent Man.
Man moved to the U.S. from her native China many years ago and became a U.S. citizen in 2006, according to court records. Prosecutors said her husband, who has not been charged, warned her that the person she was dealing with was "probably an undercover agent."
Prosecutor Walleisa wrote that Man and Zhang were "well aware" they needed a license to export the drone and jet fighter engines. Since 1990, the U.S. has maintained an arms embargo against China.
Man emailed one witness "the buyer is real and that the money is from the [Chinese] movement, not a private party, but that they needed to make sure the seller was not from the Federal Bureau of Investigation because sometimes an FBI 'officer' disguises himself as a seller to detect spy activities," according to court documents.
In other emails and phone calls, investigators said Man wrote or talked about exporting the items through Korea, Israel or Hong Kong, and discussed the risk of engaging in such illegal activity.
If convicted of both charges, Man faces a maximum of 25 years in federal prison and $1.25 million in fines.
Alert 5 - Military Aviation News
U.S. citizen charged with conspiring to send $50 million drone and jet fighter engines to China - Sun Sentinel
A woman accused of trying to send an unmanned Hellfire missile-firing drone and jet fighter engines to China via South Florida, pleaded not guilty to federal charges of illegal military weapons brokering Friday in Fort Lauderdale.
Prosecutors say Wenxia Man, aka Wency, 44, was working with a man she called a "technology spy" who procures information from Russia and other nations "so that China can obtain sophisticated technology without having to conduct its own research."
The so-called "technology spy," Xinsheng Zhang, was indicted on related charges in South Florida but authorities said he is in China and has not yet been arrested.
Investigators said Zhang discussed paying $50 million to an undercover operative in Broward to illegally ship an MG-9 Reaper, an unmanned drone that is "capable of firing Hellfire missiles and is classified as a defense article," on the U.S. defense munitions list.
Zhang is an official agent for the procurement of war and defense items for the Chinese government, authorities said.
"The nature and circumstances of the offense, that is attempting to obtain and export weaponized unmanned aerial vehicles and engines for jet fighters to the People's Republic of China, presents a substantial risk to the national security of the United States," Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Walleisa wrote in court records.
Man, who was arrested last month in the San Diego area and recently transferred to South Florida, contacted people in Broward County she thought could help her but were actually undercover witnesses and Homeland Security agents, according to court records. Prosecutors said the conspiracy operated in Broward County and elsewhere between 2011 and 2013.
Man and Zhang also tried to obtain engines for the F-35 Strike Fighter and the F-22 Raptor Jet Fighter engines and other military and defense items, authorities said.
Man, who has been detained since her Sept. 1 arrest in California, will remain locked up in the Broward County Main Jail for now. She pleaded not guilty Friday to two federal charges, unlicensed brokering of defense articles and conspiracy to export defense articles without a license.
Speaking initially via a Mandarin interpreter and at other times in halting English, Man told U.S. Magistrate Judge Alicia Valle that she and her husband own AFM Microelectronics in San Diego, an unsuccessful, small factory that makes ceramic capacitors.
Sometimes, I say we're crazy to run this company," she told the judge, explaining that they do not make much money and have lost money on the venture some months.
The judge appointed the Federal Public Defender's Office to represent Man.
Man moved to the U.S. from her native China many years ago and became a U.S. citizen in 2006, according to court records. Prosecutors said her husband, who has not been charged, warned her that the person she was dealing with was "probably an undercover agent."
Prosecutor Walleisa wrote that Man and Zhang were "well aware" they needed a license to export the drone and jet fighter engines. Since 1990, the U.S. has maintained an arms embargo against China.
Man emailed one witness "the buyer is real and that the money is from the [Chinese] movement, not a private party, but that they needed to make sure the seller was not from the Federal Bureau of Investigation because sometimes an FBI 'officer' disguises himself as a seller to detect spy activities," according to court documents.
In other emails and phone calls, investigators said Man wrote or talked about exporting the items through Korea, Israel or Hong Kong, and discussed the risk of engaging in such illegal activity.
If convicted of both charges, Man faces a maximum of 25 years in federal prison and $1.25 million in fines.
